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Currently hosting 4 Viable Software Alternatives games! |
| World Empire 1991 | |||||||||||
| User rating: No rating | DOS Shareware (partial game) | Strategy | |||||||||
| Developed by Viable Software Alternatives | |||||||||||
| Published by Viable Software Alternatives | |||||||||||
| Graphics: EGA 320×200×16c | |||||||||||
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World Empire is a game of global domination, like Risk, except that there are no cards to award bonus armies. The key difference is the introduction of "ideologies". Each player chooses an ideology to support: Populist, Militarist, Socialist or Realist. The world is divided into 71 nations, each of which supports one of the players' ideologies. When you conquer a nation that supports your ideology, they greet you as liberators and require only 1 army to hold them, whereas nations that support rival ideologies need additional armies to remain in order to prevent a revolution. When a nation revolts, the player whose ideology they support receives 5 armies in that country. Otherwise combat is similar to other games in the genre, with invisible dice being thrown to determine the outcome of each battle. Ties go to the defender but, starting in v1.50, ties go to the attacker if the defending nation supports the attacker's ideology. Armies are awarded at the beginning of each turn based on the number of nations held, plus bonus armies for holding an entire continent. The overall progress can be viewed on the world map, while combat takes place on detailed continent maps that also show each nation's ideology. The shareware version can be played by one to four players, with the computer serving as the opponent in a one player game. The registered version can be played against up to six computer opponents. Downloads
AvailabilityViable Software Alternatives still sells World Empire V Deluxe, a Win32 version of the game, for $18 by download or CD-ROM.
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| World Empire II Deluxe 1992 | |||||||||||
| User rating: No rating | Win16 Shareware (partial game) | Strategy | |||||||||
| Developed by Viable Software Alternatives | |||||||||||
| Published by Viable Software Alternatives | |||||||||||
| Screenshot | |||||||||||
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The World Empire series moved to Windows in the second game of the series. It's a game of global domination, like Risk, except that there are no cards to award bonus armies. Each player represents an ideology – Populist, Militarist, Socialist or Realist. The world is divided into 139 nations, each of which supports one of the players' ideologies. When you conquer a nation that supports your ideology, they greet you as liberators and require only 1 army to hold them, whereas nations that support rival ideologies need additional armies to remain in order to prevent a revolution. Armies are awarded at the beginning of each turn based on the number of nations held, plus bonus armies for holding an entire continent. World Empire II adds an "all nations conquered" option, in addition to the "all nations neutral" starting position of the original. Populations and national capitals are now listed for each country. Starting with v1.5, the game became "Deluxe" because it adds a real world simulation mode to the registered version, in which population and development are taken into account. Version 1.5 also adds an option to have all sides start with 30 armies instead of 56, and to check the status of all countries on the continent. The shareware version can be played by one to four players, with up to two computer players (one in v1.0). The registered version can be played against up to seven computer opponents, and adds three new ideologies. Downloads
AvailabilityViable Software Alternatives still sells World Empire V Deluxe, a Win32 version of the game, for $18 by download or CD-ROM.
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| World Empire III 1994 | |||||||||||
| User rating: No rating | Win16 Shareware (partial game) | Strategy | |||||||||
| Developed by Viable Software Alternatives | |||||||||||
| Published by Viable Software Alternatives | |||||||||||
| Screenshot | |||||||||||
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The third game in the popular world domination series, World Empire III improves on World Empire II by adding a lot of new images and graphics, more attractive maps, and MIDI music, some of which is pretty catchy. It's also possible to see how many armies are in each nation on the map screen during gameplay, instead of having to check the Status screen. Otherwise the game is the same, except that you can no longer play against two computer opponents in the shareware version, and the "expert" option that starts players with 30 armies instead of 56 is now reserved for the registered version. The world is still divided into 139 nations, each of which supports one of the players' ideologies. Version numbers continue from where they left off in World Empire II, starting with v2.0 in World Empire III. The shareware version can be played by one to four players, with the computer serving as the opponent in a one player game. The registered version can be played against up to seven computer opponents, and adds four new ideologies. Downloads
AvailabilityViable Software Alternatives still sells World Empire V Deluxe, a Win32 version of the game, for $18 by download or CD-ROM.
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| World Empire IV 1996 | |||||||||||
| User rating: No rating | Win16 Shareware (partial game) | Strategy | |||||||||
| Developed by Viable Software Alternatives | |||||||||||
| Published by Viable Software Alternatives | |||||||||||
| Screenshot | |||||||||||
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The fourth game in the popular world domination series, World Empire IV improves on World Empire III by adding online play. It's also possible to see how many armies are in each nation by hovering the mouse pointer over a nation, and there are buttons for both regular and blitz (continuous) attacks instead of having to toggle between attack modes. Player images have been replaced with photographs. The world is still divided into 139 nations, each of which supports one of the players' ideologies. Version numbers continue from where they left off in World Empire III, starting with v3.01 in World Empire IV. The shareware version can be played by one to four players, with the computer serving as the opponent in a one player game. The registered version can be played against up to seven computer opponents, and adds four new ideologies. Downloads
AvailabilityViable Software Alternatives still sells World Empire V Deluxe, a Win32 version of the game, for $18 by download or CD-ROM.
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